Patient satisfaction surveys are measuring the wrong things, he said in a voice that sounded a bit like Arlo Guthrie telling the story of Alice's Restaurant. None of the words that appear most in patient "fan mail" -- "caring, cared, cares, kind, kindness " -- are on such surveys. "You can be friendly, but not helpful or compassionate," Lee said.

Lee cited a 2009 study in Family Medicine that found that colds lasted a day shorter among patients who reported higher empathy in their physicians. "The failure to empathize is the basis of most of the unhappy doctor-patient relationships," Lee quoted the late Harry Wilmer, MD, saying.

"You don't come out of a movie talking about the service you got," said Lee. "It's an experience." Disney -- whose mission statement is "We deliver fun and happiness for the whole family" -- made the enormously successful Toy Story starring Tom Hanks, but that doesn't mean they would make Philadelphia, which features Hanks as a lawyer dying of AIDS. A tragedy just doesn't fit, Lee explained.

How exactly this might play out in pediatrics or any other medical specialty seems a bit unclear, as sadness is certainly part of many clinical scenarios. He didn't mention it, but perhaps there's a movie that could star Hanks as someone struggling successfully with type 2 diabetes. Unfortunately, that might be more of a documentary.

Saturday night, AAP members and their families had a chance to see how a Disney runs a theme park, if not a hospital, with a free event at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

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